Newly released footage shows the moment Kyle Rittenhouse's rifle was destroyed at a Wisconsin crime lab.
Back in August 2020, Rittenhouse - then 17 years old - used the rifle to shoot two people dead and injure a third during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Washington.
During a skirmish, the teenager shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz. The firearm used in the shootings - an AR-15 rifle - was purchased for Rittenhouse by Dominick Black, who was dating his sister at the time.
Rittenhouse's subsequent trial divided the nation, with some people viewing the teen as a patriotic hero, and others believing him to be a careless vigilante. In November, he was found not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide - along with four other felony charges.
Following the trial, Rittenhouse requested that the rifle be returned to him so that it could be destroyed. It was later ruled that the rifle would be destroyed by the proper authorities.
Now, footage shared by TMJ4 News shows the moment the rifle was fed to a shredder.
Watch the moment in the video below:The Huffington Post reports that the destruction of the firearm took place last month on February 25.
The video shows the moment State Lab authorities unboxed the weapon, detailing its accompanying scope and magazine, and pointing out details such as the crime lab numbers that were used when the item was stored as evidence.
Once the final checks are completed, a member of the team then says: "The Rittenhouse rifle will be destroyed at the State Crime Laboratory on this 25th day of February 2022 by mechanical shredding."
The weapon and its parts are then fed to the shredder, as the camera captures its fragments being deposited into a box below.
Back in January, Rittenhouse posted a court filing requesting the return of the rifle "to ensure that the firearm in question is properly destroyed."
Eventually, state prosecutors, the defense, and the individual who purchased the gun all agreed to allow the Kenosha Police Department and Kenosha Joint Services to destroy the rifle.
Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger added that the rifle would not be released to anybody, so that it "will not be in anyone's possession." The ruling was agreed upon by Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder.
Rittenhouse had previously stated how he didn't "want anything to do" with the rifle following the trial, with the teen's spokesperson, David Hancock, telling the Associated Press: "At the end of the day, two people did lose their lives, period."
"That weapon was involved in that," Hancock added. "That weapon doesn't belong on a mantle. It doesn't belong in a museum. It belongs where Kyle wants it, and Kyle wants it destroyed."
